Senate Initiates Probe into Possible PGA-LIV Union
A senior U.S. politician has launched a probe into the recent merger of the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf League, demanding both parties to turn over papers detailing their swift decision to collaborate.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democratic senator from Connecticut who heads the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, expressed his demand in separate letters to PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman.
Blumenthal raises worries that the alliance is a blueprint by the Saudi government to engage in "sportswashing" to sugarcoat its track record of human rights infringements and potential connections with sponsoring the 9/11 terror attacks. He also ponders whether PGA Tour's maintenance of its tax-exempt status could inappropriately benefit the South Saudi Kingdom.
LIV Golf League was founded in 2021 by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, the country's sovereign wealth fund, and it had a tense rapport with the PGA Tour. LIV managed to attract high-profile PGA Tour golfers with nine-figure sponsorship deals, which resulted in the PGA banning players who participated in LIV events from competing on that platform.
An Unexpected Reversal
The establishment's sudden reversal from Monahan and other PGA Tour officials left many spectators startled, and Blumenthal intends to employ his subcommittee's influence in gaining information.
Blumenthal noted that PGA Tour's partnership with the Saudi Public Investment Fund about LIV Golf elevates concerns over the Saudi government's influence on this endeavor and the perils entailed by a foreign administration assuming control of an esteemed American institution.
Blumenthal asked LIV Golf and the PGA Tour to send a bouquet of documents to his subcommittee by June 26. This demand encompassed all documents and interactions between top PGA Tour and LIV officials, with special attention to efforts to maintain the PGA Tour's tax-exempt status, among additional details.
In a media statement, the PGA Tour said it's "confident that Congress will comprehend the advantages this endeavor will create for golfers, communities, and sports as a whole once they learn more about the PGA Tour's control of this new company."
Playing Hardball
If the organizations fail to comply with the document request, Blumenthal hinted at using stronger tactics.
"I don't believe they'll stiff-arm us right now," Blumenthal remarked to Slate this week. "But if they decline to furnish these documents and other evidence, I'd have a severe reaction. And we have the power to subpoena; I won't shy away from utilizing it if they stonewall us."
Blumenthal explained that his primary intent is to learn more about the discreet and startling deal between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf League.
"I want to delve into the specifics at the moment," he told Slate. "What prompted this deal? What was said to whom? What vows were made? What were the mails about? Because I anticipate that there would be plenty of people in a state of bewilderment, disapproval, and confusion regarding Jay Monahan's complete reversal and the PGA."
Regulators in the 30 states where sports betting is legal have majorly rejected permitting wagers on LIV Golf events, frequently citing the league's Saudi backing. The merger could trigger increased gambling on golf in the future.
